Freedom Of Information Program Website Goes Mobile

In line with SAHA's central mission and commitment to documenting and raising awareness of past and contemporary struggles for justice, SAHA launched its Freedom of Information Programme (FOIP) in 2001. Since then FOIP has been at the forefront of efforts to test the parameters of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (PAIA). The programme is committed to extending the boundaries of access to information in South Africa by increasing compliance with the use of PAIA, empowering individuals and organisations to understand PAIA as a strategic advocacy tool; and creating awareness of the right to access to information as an enabling right, fundamental to the realisation of other human rights both within South Africa, and across the continent, in order to invigorate citizen demand for the right to know.

Through FOIP, SAHA assists individuals, communities, nongovernmental organisations, activists and researchers with requests for information as well as submitting its own requests. FOIP program is also empowering the communities to make use of the enabling tools in order to deter corruption and hold to account those that abuse public power for personal gain.

To this end, FOIP has over the years conducted a number of trainings and produced various materials that are used by communities to ensure the protection of their rights. To see more of FOIP's resources please visit the FOIP website.

In addition to the existing work that has been done, in this technology age, it is vital to ensure that information is available in easily accessible formats. To that end, at the beginning of the year, SAHA embarked on a journey to make the FOIP website mobile friendly. A lot of our community workers might not have access to laptops, but the smart phone has grown in popularity thus allowing individuals to use their phones to access information. With the generous funding made by the Open Society Foundation, FOIP was able to ensure that our website is as accessible on a mobile device as it is on a desktop. We are confident that this will increase knowledge and more communities and individuals will be able to access the resources and exercise their rights.